While the interiors of pickup trucks have become larger, more comfortable, and more sophisticated through the years, the exterior of the vehicle still plays a significant, if not dominant, role in the selection of a vehicle. One area of the vehicle exterior which has received substantial attention is the front grille. Through the years, whether on automobiles or trucks, the front grille has often been the centerpiece that grabs the attention of the observer resulting in grilles of increasing size.
While large grilles are presently desired by pickup truck enthusiasts, the larger grilles can present significant issues during installation within the manufacturing process. During installation it is important to center the grille between the headlamps. To do so, care must be given by the operator when positioning the grille on a grille carrier which has been previously mounted to the frame of the vehicle. While centering the grille seems a relatively straightforward task, the growing size of the grilles has added some complexity. Options for overcoming these complexities including utilizing more than one operator to install the grille or providing some sort of aid to the lone operator charged with mounting and centering the grille.
One type of aid provided to the operator is in the form of flexible locator tabs extending laterally from outboard sides of the grille. The locator tabs are designed to contact one of the headlamps in the event the grille is being installed off center, i.e., too close to one of the headlamps. The contact with the headlamp was intended to direct the grille away from the headlamp assembly with which contact was being made and back toward a more centered position. In this manner, one or the other locator tabs would provide assistance in locating the grille during installation and before the grille was secured to the grille carrier.
While the locator tabs have provided significant assistance in centering grilles during installation, the growing size of some grilles has diminished the ability of the locator tabs to provide suitable assistance. This is due primarily to the actions of the operators during the installation process. Given the size of the larger grilles, some operators have resorted to resting the grille on the grille carrier by engaging metal tabs or snaps positioned along a lower edge of the grille/grille carrier. Once engaged, however, the frictional force is sufficient to prevent the locator tabs from deflecting the grille toward the center when contact with the headlamps is made. This results in some grilles being installed in an undesirable position between the headlamp assemblies.
In other words, the grille is being initially positioned on the grille carrier in a manner that prevents any later lateral movement of the grille due to contact between the locator tabs and the headlamps. The result is that the grilles can be installed outside of the acceptable tolerances with regard to centering between the headlamps. Accordingly, a need exists for a grille carrier capable of eliminating the identified issues associated with centering the grille between headlamps during the installation process. Ideally, the grille carrier would support at least a portion of the weight of the grille during the installation process. This would eliminate the need to engage the metal tabs/snaps of the grille allowing the grille to move laterally for centering before being secured to the grille carrier. It would be most desirable if the lateral movement were the result of the centering tabs contacting the headlamp assemblies or the operator applying force during the installation process.